Rukshana Kapali/Pahichan – Transwomen are usually not accepted in the society because of cisnormative mentality. But due to recent trans activism, situation is improving. People have started coming out and speaking up about their gender identity. And yes transwomen are coming out as well. Since there is growing acceptance of transgender women in society, there are also men who are coming out as being attracted to transwomen.

But when we are talking about acceptance of transgender people and gender identity spectrum, many of us view transgenders in heteronormative way again.  Many of us assume that a transwoman can only be attracted to men, and a transman can only be attracted to women. Just like cisnormative thinking is a problem, so is heteronormative view points. However, in reality transgender people also have their own sexual orientation just like cisgender people.

Just like it is not necessary that a man is attracted towards woman. There are men who are attracted to men. There are men who are attracted to both men and women. There are men who are attracted to transwoman. In the similar way, there are not just only transwomen who are attracted to men(straight transwoman). But there are also transwomen who are attracted to women(Lesbian transwoman); transwomen who are attracted to both men and woman(Bisexual transwoman) and transwomen who are attracted to transwomen.

Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same. Sexual orientation refers to an individual’s enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction to another person, whereas gender identity refers to one’s internal sense of being male, female, or something else. Transgender people may be straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or asexual, just as cisgender people can be.

Sexual identification?

Often when it comes to identification of transwomen or transgenders in terms of sexual orientation, there is a contradiction in terminologies. Historically, clinicians labeled transgender people as heterosexual or homosexual relative to their sex assigned at birth. That means a transwoman was labeled “homosexual” if attracted to men and “heterosexual” if attracted to women, on the basis of their birth assigned sex. But most transgender people find this offensive, and prefer to define their sexual orientation relative to their gender identity. That means a transwoman who is attracted to a man will identify as a heterosexual and a transwoman who is attracted to woman will identify as a homosexual, on the basis of their gender identity.

To avoid confusion and offense, the terms “gynesexual”(meaning: attraction to woman) and “androsexual”(meaning: attraction to men) are sometimes used to describe the sexuality of transwomen.

Research, such as that done by Walter Bockting at the University of Minnesota, suggests that the breakdown of sexualities among transsexual women is 38% bisexual, 35% attracted to women, and 27% attracted to men. Older research had suggested that the majority of transsexual women seeking sex reassignment were attracted to men. About half of trans women studied have sexual intercourse with women.[reference]

Lesbian transwomen

Many transwomen identify themselves as lesbian transwomen. They are transwomen who are attracted to women.

Bisexual transwomen

Many transwomen identify themselves as bisexual transwomen. They are transwomen who are attracted to both men and women. A relatively high percentage of transwomen enter sexual relationships with both men and women.

Transwomen who like transwomen

Compatible transwomen often form strong emotional and sexual connections with certain other transwomen. If they find each other physically appealing? There’s a lot of shared interest to explore.

Conclusion

Like all others, transgender people exhibit the full range of possible sexual orientations and interests, including the potential for a lack of sexual attraction. Trans women are an extremely diverse group; we should be seen and embraced in our full diversity, in trans communities, in feminism, in the queer women’s movement.